I hope you read my post from yesterday regarding adopting older dogs. Here's a pic of my "older" dogs, Odie (adopted at 4 yrs. old) and Ginger (adopted at 9 mos.). Last year they were shelter cell mates, getting into fights over food, and now they're finally in their new home, best of friends. Odie is seen here giving Ginger a big kiss. Look at Ginger's smile! Every day, these two dogs make me so glad I went to my local
animal shelter and adopted them. I had come for just one dog, and picked Odie as having the best temperament, but I fell in love with Ginger's movie star looks. That red hair and all that energy! I knew she would be some trouble, though. Since she had no socialization skills with other dogs, and was never trained, except some housebreaking. So I adopted Odie, and got Ginger for half price! I called her my "diamond in the rough" and my "project dog." I knew she'd need some work.I have to give a big thank you out to Cesar Millan, "The Dog Whisperer" for giving me the psychological tools I needed to rehabilitate Ginger and teach her how to be calm-submissive. She had spent her very early months around children, and so didn't really learn to be calm. She was just crazy all the time and very unstable. The name she came with was "Scooby" but just mentioning it seem to bring back memories of extreme excitment. So I changed her name to "Ginger" and she learned it well in just a week or so. Even now, we watch "The Dog Whisperer" together whenever we can. That's Ginger (above) in her dog bed watching Cesar Millan while practicing calm-attentiveness.
I've added this post just to give some encouragement to anyone considering an older shelter dog. Now go find your next buddy...
